


a song of blood and smoke

by doubledeadgirl



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Minor Character Death, Multi, gonna add tags as i go because i honestly don't know what's happening in most of it, i'm sure there will be eventual smut bc this plot is going to be longer than the actual series, if it gets heavy heavy i'll up the rating to mature! for now it's safe at teen i think, nothing here is the same, spilling my thoughts into my tags sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 05:58:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17380928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doubledeadgirl/pseuds/doubledeadgirl
Summary: a retelling of the series in which aang was *not* the air nation avatar and in which katara is the avatar that went missing for a hundred years. perhaps a bit darker in some places, but they'll get to have some lighthearted moments still. anyway i am so bad at summaries i promise it will be good.





	a song of blood and smoke

**Author's Note:**

> i don't own a:tla, but i wish i did :(  
> promise to put the actual story with capital letters but all my notes will be lowercase bc i'm an aesthetic gay
> 
> \- any opening narratives in italics are in aang's voice and are probably either a summary of what happened or are foreshadowing  
> \- don't forget to leave a review if you like it so that i'll actually make myself write the next chapter!! i rewrote this like 3 times pls love me

_Earth. Fire. Air. Water. The monks tell stories of the old days, when the four nations lived together in harmony, when the Avatar kept the balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. That all changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the Avatar can master all four elements, only they can stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed them most, they vanished. A hundred years have passed and the fire nation is nearing victory in the War. Some people believe the Avatar was never reborn into the water tribes, and that the cycle is broken. But I haven't lost hope. I still believe that somehow the Avatar will return and save the world._

* * *

  _one hundred years ago_

In a way, it was irony that the Avatar died and the exact moment that Kya felt the first labor pain. It was destiny, but Kya couldn't know that, not until the nomads arrived speaking of an impending doom from the Fire Nation, and she looked at her infant daughter and thought to herself that the timing was peculiar. _No_ , she convinced herself, her little Katara wasn't the Avatar. She looked to her husband and son, wondering if this war would be the end. In a way, it would be the end of everything and the start of everything, all at once.

It was eight years later that Kya found herself hiding as many of the children of the tribe as she could in a safe space under the igloos with the elders and new or expecting mothers. They would be safe there, no one would find them, she could find them after. 

She never found them; in fact it was her son Sokka who lead them out. They were faced with the finality of the situation then: the devastation of their home. The men of the tribe had left months prior, to try and fend off the impending threats. Only the women remained, and it was with great honor that they sacrificed themselves to protect the future. Avatar or no. The only bender left in the tribe was Katara.

A tribe made up of hundreds had diminished to a couple of dozen, at most. The elders and the women took care of the children, not that Sokka or Katara didn't try to help. He was ten, and took it upon himself to be their protector. Katara was the only waterbender, and quickly found herself trying to use that to help where she could. Though, she wasn't very patient in her self teaching, it took over a year for her to learn enough to be of any help.

The two siblings took on the role of teaching the younger children. Yoka was four when she first showed she could bend water, and Katara squealed with joy at the thought of teaching her. Kassuq was only a month younger than Katara, both were nine, when he accidentally bent an ice ball. Katara learned quicker through teaching the others than she learned on her own. Sokka, meanwhile, taught the nonbenders how to fight and hunt. Knowing there was always a chance for the Fire Nation to return, he vowed to protect his family.

In the midst of becoming adults so young, the two siblings became closer, knowing they were all they truly had. "I miss them sometimes, but I'm glad we're together." She would tell him when the others were sleeping. He'd make a joke, but she knew what he meant. They wondered what they would have been like if they hadn't lost everything so young. "Maybe your jokes would be better."

"Maybe you wouldn't have a stick up your butt!" They would throw snow at each other and laugh despite the cold and the loneliness they both denied they felt.

"Do you think the Avatar is going to save us?"

"I don't know, Katara, but I hope so."

They would learn soon, when Katara was thirteen, that the Avatar was with them the entire time. She couldn't get the fire to light and her fingers were starting to numb. She let out a huff from her nose out of anger and was caught off guard as fire spewed from her nostrils and lit the wood. She called for Kanna, "Gran Gran!" Her grandmother cried fat tears as she looked at her granddaughter.

"It's you."

She was only a child, yet her destiny was suddenly clear. Now, more than ever, they needed help. "No one is coming," Sokka said to her late one night, "we have to save ourselves this time."

He was wrong about the former, but all too correct about the latter.

The first case was when the man from the North washed up on their shores. Kanna knew him, in fact, she had been betrothed to him. Pakku. A waterbending master. He was one of many who had came from the North to search for the Avatar, only to be ambushed by a Fire Nation ship. He was the only survivor.

It was two days later that they spotted the large ship on the sea and their calls filled the air. They sent the younger children back underground with the elders. They had already lost two of the elders, they wouldn't lose more in this fight, they decided. It had been four years since they discovered Katara to be the Avatar. Yoka tried to get them to let her fight too, but Katara reminded her that she needed to be with the others to protect them, she grudgingly agreed.

"Are you ready for this?" Sokka asked, holding his trusted boomerang at the ready.

"I was born for this." Katara meant it to be a joke, but she knew it was true.

Kassuq simply nodded, readying a whip already. This was the fight they had always been scared would come.

"If we can defeat them, we can take their ship." Sokka declared, grinning more than was probably fit. Eighteen and cocky, he was just trying to make his family proud. He didn't realize they already were.

The Southern Raiders hadn't been seen by the tribe in years, but the Fire Lord wanted to seize control of the South, believing the Avatar to be gone and the south to be defenseless. They weren't expecting the front line they saw, but even with two benders and the women who had trained with Sokka to become just as capable as any warrior, they had the advantage.

Katara touched her mother's necklace and started sending ice spears as Kassuq began freezing the feet of the men coming their way. Their bending was no match for their opposition and their weapons weren't strong enough to make a difference. They were losing ground — and lives. "We've got more down here!" Katara heard one of the soldiers call as she stood back to back with Kassuq and tried to spot Sokka. There. He was alive.

_It's over._ She thought to herself, watching the Raiders bring everyone above ground, counting the bodies of her friends and family on the ground. She lost hope, she lost her faith. She dropped her ice and hit her knees. The screaming became silent, and the world started to blank.

It was Yoka that caused it. She let out a scream and the ocean began to move. Kassuq looked at it, then at her, and then at Katara by his feet. "Get up, we can win. The three of us together can win this." Bending to lift her to her feet, his voice was quieter. "You're the  _Avatar._ You can't give up yet."

She watched the ocean coming towards them to Yoka's hands and nodded, lifting her hands at the same time as Kassuq's. They pulled and pulled, and the water came towards them. It was then that Sokka took a hit to the head and Katara lost focus as he fell. Her screams of his name couldn't be heard over the crashing of the water. Kassuq was gripping her arm again, dragging her as they tried to outrun the wave they had brought to the land.

"If we get underground we might have a chance!" She thought he said, but she wasn't focused on him anymore. He helped her lift the barely conscious Sokka and they pulled him together to the others, trying to get everyone back to the hatch. There wasn't enough time, and instead they gripped each other in an embrace that they all was sure would be their last. Perhaps it would have, had Katara not accidentally triggered the Avatar state. The wave crashed down upon them and they struggled to hold onto each other. They didn't all hold on, Kanna and Pakku were the only elders who could. They lost the others. The children were starting to slip, despite their efforts.

That was when the light overtook them. Then everything was gone.

* * *

_present day_

_south pole_

Aang wasn't  _supposed_ to be at the South Pole. In fact, he was supposed to be going to Kiyoshi Island. He couldn't help himself, though, he was never allowed to go out on his own so he needed to make the most of it. He just wanted to get a look at the old war ship, the wreckage was supposed to be really cool. So he told Appa that's where they were going, and that was the end of it.

What he  _didn't_ expect however, was how cool the ice berg near the ship wreck looked. It was blue, he would have sworn. Naturally, curious as he was, he went to investigate. One would think that by fourteen he would have already outgrown his child like wonder, but he hadn't and that's how he liked it. Perhaps, it was exactly that quality that would save the world — or at the very least knock over the first domino in the chain.

"Appa! Look! There's something inside!" He was excited, and took his staff and began to hit the ice. Which, retrospectively, could have been a terrible idea actually. He wasn't thinking about that, and as his flying bison watched, he finally made way and pierced the ice. It began to crack, and air escaped the spherical formation.

The beam of light that exploded from the top took him off guard and he jumped back. He hid behind Appa as the ice shell dropped, leaving a group of people behind. Aang was shocked, to say the least, as they had to have been in there since the South fell. That was nearly one hundred years ago. They were all unconscious, he finally noticed upon coming out from behind Appa. "What do we do, Appa? Who  _are_ these people?" The bison simply let out a huff of air.

* * *

_fire nation ship ; somewhere near the south pole_

Zuko and Azula were dueling on the ship's deck when the light erupted. The two stopped, staring at it for a long moment before Azula finally spoke. "Well, would you look at that. We might finally get to go home." Her grin was venomous and Zuko eyed it cautiously. "What do you think Zuzu?"

"I think we're going to capture the Avatar and regain my honor." He called out for the ship to head towards the light, and Azula's grin stretched. "Be ready Azula, we're about to change the world."

Iroh watched them from the end of the deck, frowning. He wanted his nephew's honor restored as well, however if this  _was_ the Avatar, it wasn't going to be as easy as his niece and nephew seemed to believe. If it  _was_ the Avatar, were they really sure that returning to their father was the right decision? Were any of them really sure of anything anymore? The last two years had been long, and nothing was the way it had been before that faithful day.

"Your highnesses, do continue your training." He called out, making the two teens scoff. They listened anyway, doing as he asked. There was a sinking feeling in the man's stomach that something wasn't right, but he couldn't be sure what.

**Author's Note:**

> i really changed A LOT in this fanfic, but don't worry i'm keeping a lot of the things everyone loves. zuko/azula not wanting to kill each other is something major i changed, i hope no one minds too much? months of reading fanfics has made me want them to be happy alright? the fire kids deserve better! that said their personalities aren't going to be THAT different i hope?? i'm talking too much thanks for reading bye


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